Outstanding figures of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts. Olena Kononova

Section 1. Kharkiv Contexts

Abstract

Statement of the problem. Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts is a well-known artistic educational institution that has formed powerful compositional, performance, and scientific schools over more than 100 years of fruitful development. Certainly, the activities of its brightest representatives who through their inspired selfless work raised the Ukrainian academic art of today on a high level deserves comprehensive coverage. The article, in the genre of a “creative portrait”, examines the scientific, performance, educational, and organizational activities, as well as the creative personality of Olena Kononova (1952–2023), which is a remarkable musician, a talented teacher, an outstanding scientist – a true creator of the chronicle of Kharkiv musical life from the end of the 18th to early 21st century, a discoverer of this topic that is fruitful not only for scientific understanding but also for cultural self-identification of new generations of Ukrainian artists. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. Olena Kononova’s personality holds a distinctive place in the history of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts. Her substantial monographic researches of Kharkiv’s musical life of the late 19th and early 20th centuries covering the creative figures of prominent composers and musical performers; her scientific publications, educational, performance and pedagogical activities, the work on popularizing the achievements Kharkiv’s artists and scientists in the European cultural environment deserves a special recognition and research. However, until now, her diverse activity has been reflected only in helpful encyclopedic publications containing official formal information. The presented article is the first attempt to highlight Olena Kononova’s extraordinary creative work in the contemporary artistic space, and this fact determines its scientific relevance and novelty. The purpose of the article is to conclude the degree of significance of O. Kononova’s diverse activities and her self devoted work on the study, saving and popularization of the Kharkiv artistic tradition in the context of developing the art historical scientific thoughts, the academic music performance and the professional art education in Ukraine in the last third of the 20th and early 21st centuries. A set of research approaches –biographical, analytical, and systematic – contributes to the diversify covering her creative personality; the historical and cultural “angle” of the search permits us to consider O. Kononova’s life workflow as the “Kharkiv text”. Research results. Olena Kononova’s scientific heritage is examined on the basis of her researches: the essay “Evolution of Music Education in Kharkiv” (2017), the monograph “Musical culture of Kharkiv in the late 18th – early 20th centuries” (2004) and others. The named monograph is the unique work in terms of its content, which presents Kharkiv as a major cultural center of Ukraine. The socio-historical processes in the context of forming and developing the professional music education are highlighted, as well as the structure and forms of musical life of different social groups in the region, the social functions of music and musicians who were worked in Kharkiv, conditions and factors of forming the musical needs and interests of Kharkiv residents. The next O. Kononova’s monograph «Mariia Yeshchenko. Concert and Pedagogical Activity” (2009) reflects the real character of the legendary personality – an outstanding performer, teacher, and a true coryphaeus of the Kharkiv piano school. O. Kononova’s international scientific and educational activities, which were awarded by the Jean Monnet’s Prize “for her contribution to the study of cultural contacts and the cultivation the learning of European culture,” provided a new level of awareness of the European art community about the musical culture of Kharkiv and the activities of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts. The extensive international art projects directly initiated and organized by O. Kononova, which presented the powerful artistic history of Kharkiv and the events in its artistic life that became significant not only in the region, but also for the whole of Ukraine, are noted. O. Kononova’s organizational and performance work is presented “through the prism” of concert life of the Department of General and Specialized Piano: under her leadership the concert activity of the Department’s teachers and students was focused on popularizing the works of Kharkiv composers. The pedagogical achievements by O. Kononova is presented through the analysis of her students’ concert performances, the personal impressions and the memories of colleagues and the author of the article. Conclusion. Olena Kononova is an example of an artist who is able to combine several areas of work and be successful all over; a genuine Kharkiv citizen, a patriot of Kharkiv region, a tireless achievements promoter of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts. Her scientific and educational achievements are a depository of theoretical knowledge that will become more valuable over time, and other expressions of her multifaceted personality, in our opinion, deserve to be recognized, respected, and followed.